Aircraft autoflight systems have evolved over the years from the traditional autopilots for basic flight path control to complex flight management systems capable of automatically flying aircraft over complicated routes without pilot intervention. Such flight management systems typically include an autopilot, an autothrottle, and a flight management computer (FMC) interfaced with the autopilot and autothrottle. Flight decks on aircraft utilizing such systems generally include a number of controls and displays that allow pilots to monitor the flight management system and change autoflight parameters if desired. As flight management systems have evolved, these controls and displays have been positioned in different locations around the flight deck. Over time, these locations have become somewhat standardized within the transport aircraft industry.
FIG. 1A illustrates an aircraft flight deck 20 having a flight management system in accordance with the prior art. The flight deck 20 includes a first pilot seat 24a and a second pilot seat 24b, separated by a control pedestal 26. Forward windows 21 are positioned forward of the seats 24a, 24b and provide a forward field of view for the pilots (not shown) seated in the pilot seats 24a, 24b. A plurality of flight instruments 27 are positioned on a forward instrument panel 23 and the control pedestal 26 for access by the pilots. A glare shield 22 is positioned below the forward windows 21 to reduce glare on the flight instruments 27.
The flight instruments 27 can include a number of autoflight controls and displays, including a first control display unit (CDU) 28a positioned on the control pedestal 26 adjacent to the first pilot seat 24a, and a second CDU 28b positioned on the control pedestal 26 adjacent to the second pilot seat 24b. The first and second CDUs 28a, 28b allow the pilots to make data entries into a flight management computer (FMC) for controlling the flight management system. These entries can include flight plan information, e.g., strategic navigation and flight profile parameters. The flight instruments 27 can also include a first primary flight display (PFD) 25a positioned on the forward instrument panel 23 in front of the first pilot seat 24a, and a second PFD 25b positioned on the forward instrument panel 23 in front of the second pilot seat 24b. The first and second PFDs 24a, 25b display actual flight parameters of the aircraft, such as airspeed, altitude, attitude and heading. In addition, the first and second PFDs 25a, 25b can also display conventional flight mode annunciators (FMAs). FMAs are textual shorthand codes indicating the current modes of the autothrottle and autopilot. The flight deck 20 can further include a mode control panel (MCP) 30 incorporated into the glare shield 22. The MCP 30 provides control input devices for the FMC, autothrottle, autopilot, flight director, and altitude alert systems.
FIG. 1B illustrates a list 90 of existing FMAs corresponding to instructions for automatically controlling the lateral motion and vertical motion of an aircraft, in accordance with the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1B, existing arrangements can include at least nine different lateral modes and at least ten different vertical modes for controlling the motion of the aircraft. Furthermore, the same aircraft flight path control may be annunciated by different FMAs depending on whether the annunciation originates from the MCP 30 or the FMC. Still further, a given FMA may represent very different flight path controls, depending on flight conditions and/or the state of the aircraft's autoflight system.
One characteristic of the foregoing arrangement is that it is relatively complex. A potential drawback with this characteristic is that it can be time consuming and therefore expensive to train flight crews in the use of this system. As a result, the overall cost of operating the aircraft increases, which in turn increases the cost of transporting passengers and goods by air.